New cable cut compounds net woes

A submarine cable in the Middle East has been snapped, adding to global net problems caused by breaks in two lines under the Mediterranean on Wednesday.The Falcon cable, owned by a firm which operates another damaged cable, led to a “critical” telecom breakdown, according to one local official.

The cause of the latest break has not been confirmed but a repair ship has been deployed, said owner Flag Telecom.

The earlier break disrupted service in Egypt, the Middle East and India.

“The situation is critical for us in terms of congestion,” Omar Sultan, chief executive of Dubai’s ISP DU, told The Associated Press, following the most recent break.

Wednesday’s incident caused disruption to 70% of the nationwide internet network in Egypt on Wednesday, while India suffered up to 60% disruption.

Flag Telecom said a repair ship was expected to arrive at the site of the first break – 8.3km from Alexandria in Egypt – on 5 February, with repair work expected to take a week.

A repair ship deployed to the second break – 56km from Dubai – was expected to arrive at the site in the “next few days”, the firm said.

Web returns

The first cable – the Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe (FLAG) – was cut at 0800 on 30 January, the firm said.